Were You To Ask What Are The

The Definitions Of The Church Are The Rules Of True Faith.

It Is A Great Mistake, As We Have Already Remarked, To Be Afraid Of Him And To Act In His Presence Like A Timid And Craven Slave Trembling With Fright Before His Master.

St. Augustine And St. Thomas Define Mortal Sin To Be A Turning Away From God: That Is, The Turning Of One's Back Upon God, Leaving The Creator For The Sake Of The Creature. What Punishment Would That Subject Deserve Who, While His King Was Giving Him A Command, Contemptuously Turned His Back Upon Him To Go And Transgress His Orders? This Is What The Sinner Does; And This Is Punished In Hell With The Pain Of Loss, That Is, The Loss Of God, A Punishment Richly Deserved By Him Who In This Life Turns His Back Upon His Sovereign Good.

To Obtain Salvation We Must Tremble At The Thought Of Being Lost, And Tremble Not So Much At The Thought Of Hell, As Of Sin, Which Alone Can Send Us Thither. He Who Dreads Sin Avoids Dangerous Occasions, Frequently Recommends Himself To God, And Has Recourse To The Means Of Keeping Himself In The State Of Grace. He Who Acts Thus Will Be Saved; But For Him Who Lives Not In This Manner It Is Morally Impossible To Be Saved.

Were You To Ask What Are The Means Of Overcoming Temptations, I Would Answer: The First Means Is Prayer; The Second Is Prayer; The Third Is Prayer; And You Should You Ask Me A Thousand Times, I Would Repeat The Same.